Over a Hot Stove: A Kitchen Maid's Story

A riveting first-hand account of life working in the grand country houses of the last century. At the age of sixteen, Flo Wadlow left her family to begin what would become a distinguished life ‘in service’. Starting as a kitchen maid in South Kensington, she soon rose through the ranks, working at many great houses including Hatfield House in Hertfordshire and Blickling Hall in Norfolk. There she would be in charge of the kitchen by her early twenties and even cooked for royalty.

In this delightful memoir, Flo provides a vivid and engaging account of what life was really like working ‘downstairs’ and a snap-shot of the priviledged lives of her employers in a bygone era.